Not all cabinets are built perfectly square. As a result, the front face frame is not always perfectly parallel with the rear panel of the cabinet. If the front face and the rear panel are not parallel, problems are created in that drawer slide assemblies mounted to the cabinet carcass tend to be out of alignment. The misalignment of the slides causes them to bind in operation and fail prematurely. These problems are also present for undermount and side mount drawer slide assemblies that incorporate a rear mounted bracket where the drawer slide assembly is only attached to the bracket at the rear and to the cabinet at the face frame. The degree of misalignment is exacerbated by the depth of the cabinet frame.
When a drawer slide assembly is improperly mounted, jamming may result during the movement of the drawer in and out of the cabinet carcass. Additionally, features of the drawer slide assembly such as soft close and push-to-open functionalities may be affected or not function at all. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to ensure that the drawer slide assemblies are mounted square with the cabinet face frame and aligned despite the lack of squareness of the cabinet.
In an effort to overcome these difficulties, the prior has responded with various tools designed to assist the cabinet builder with installation of drawer slide assemblies.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,667,701 to Geesaman discloses a template tool for locating drill holes for mounting brackets and clips of wire shelving. The tool has a first bracket slidable within in a slot of a second bracket. The first bracket fits against the back of the cabinet, the second bracket fits along the inside wall of the cabinet. Holes in the second bracket provide a template for drilling holes in the cabinet to which a drawer slide is attached. The tool is used for locating mounting points on the interior sides of a cabinet carcass instead of the rear panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,979,998 to Ziegmann discloses a tool for installing undermount slides in a cabinet. The tool comprises a horizontal and vertical member, each with a top, bottom, front, back, and opposing faces. The vertical member includes a handle and a flat plane. The horizontal member includes a lip offset from the bottom and perpendicular to the flat plane. At least one magnet is attached to the horizontal member. The magnet is used to secure a drawer slide to the tool. The flat plane is positioned adjacent a cabinet face and the tool is clamped to the cabinet. The horizontal member includes a hole pattern that is used to align the mounting holes in the drawer. The tool is used for holding the drawer slide assembly adjacent the side panel of a cabinet while mounting screws are fastened.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,732 to Bruno, Jr., et al. discloses an adjustable marking gauge for locating mounting holes of drawer and cabinet hardware. The gauge comprises a rectangular shaped dog slidable along a slide arm. The slide arm includes a 180° bend terminating at a datum surface. Two parallel rods extend perpendicularly from the dog. A rectangular bar is slidably mounted on both stationary arms such that its length is parallel with the length of the body. The rectangular bar further includes equally spaced circular openings. The body is positioned against the side edge of a cabinet door and the datum is positioned adjacent the bottom of the cabinet door. The rectangular bar is positioned adjacent the inside face of the cabinet door. The dog is moved along the slide arm to the desired height. The rectangular bar slides along the stationary rods so that the circular openings can be repeatably positioned to locate mounting holes on the side panel of the cabinet carcass and depends on the side panels to be square with the front panel.
The prior art fails to disclose or suggest an apparatus for consistently and easily locating the mounting position of a rear bracket for a drawer slide. Therefore, there is a need for a tool which can easily and accurately locate the mounting holes for the rear bracket of drawer slide assemblies which compensates for out-of-square cabinet carcasses and thus provides a properly mounted drawer slide assembly such that smooth sliding operation and full use of all drawer slide assembly features are possible.